1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to exercise machines, and is particularly concerned with a chest exercise machine.
2. Related Art
Chest exercises include exercises in which the hands travel in a straight line or an elliptical path. In a free weight bench chest press exercise, the exerciser starts with their hands slightly in front of their chest, and then pushes their hands straight outward away from their body. The user may start with their body inclined, flat, or declined, in order to perform incline, flat, or decline chest exercise movements. In a free weight pectoral (“pec”) fly exercise, the exerciser lies on a bench with their arms extended out to the side with the elbows bent, holding weights, then lifts the weights to bring them together over their body, with a slight arcing or elliptical pattern to the movement. This exercise may also be performed in an inclined, flat, or declined position in order to involve different muscles.
Chest press and pec fly exercise machines attempt to reproduce the exercise movement of the corresponding free weight exercise using a barbell or dumbbell. One problem is the unnatural and exaggerated arcing movement often found in such machines, which often do not accurately simulate the natural body movement found in a free weight exercise.